Pat Morita
Sign in to saveAlso known as Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita, Noriyuki Morita, Noriyuki Pat Morita
Japanese-American actor (1932–2005)
Key facts
- Born
- Patrick Noriyuki Morita , ( 1932-06-28 ) June 28, 1932 , Sacramento, California , U.S.
- Died
- November 24, 2005 (2005-11-24) (aged 73), Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S.
- Occupations
- Actor comedian
- Years active
- 1962–2005
- Spouses
- Kathleen Yamachi ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1953 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1967 ) Yukiye Kitahara ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1970 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1989 ) Evelyn Guerrero ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1994 )
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Japan
- Place of birth
- Isleton
- Place of death
- Las Vegas
- Spouse
- Evelyn Guerrero
- Occupation
- television actor
- Educated at
- The Groundlings
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Image
- Pat Morita.jpg
- Number of children
- 3
Show 11 more facts
- Commons category
- Pat Morita
- date of birth
- 1932-06-28
- date of death
- 2005-11-24
- cause of death
- heart failure
- manner of death
- natural causes
- place of detention
- Gila River War Relocation Center
- start of work period
- 1959-00-00
- writing language
- English language
- birth name
- Noriyuki "Pat" Morita
- end of work period
- 2005-00-00
Sources (15)
via Wikidata · CC0
~13 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005) was an American actor and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, before becoming known to television audiences for his recurring role as diner owner Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on the sitcom series Happy Days from 1975 to 1983. Morita was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of martial arts mentor Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid (1984), which would be the first of a media franchise in which Morita was the central player.
Morita was the series lead actor in the television program Mr. T and Tina and in Ohara, a police-themed drama. The two shows made history for being among the few TV shows with an Asian-American series lead. He also played recurring or featured roles as Captain Sam Pak on M*A*S*H, Ah Chew in Sanford and Son, and Mike Woo on The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Morita was the voice of The Emperor of China in the Disney animated film Mulan (1998), and its sequel Mulan II (2004).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Pat Morita” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.